May 17, 2017
Do you remember how ruthless kids were on the playground when you went to school? They’d exploit every weakness, go for the jugular. You’d go home and your mom would say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but”… remember the rest? (“But names will never hurt me.”) But I’m here to tell you, that’s not exactly true. A broken bone heals faster than a broken spirit. The Bible says, “Kind words bring life but cruel words crush your spirit.” Your words have the power to heal or to hurt, to crown or to crush.
So, how supportive are you with your words? Are you an encourager or discourager? Do you lift people up or put them down? Do you give strokes or pokes? Do you nag your children or do you brag on your children?
Imagine if God were to hold a contest and He said, “I’m going to give you a dollar for every kind word you said in this past year. And I’m going to take away a dollar for every critical word or negative word you said this past year.” Would you be rich or poor? Some of you would be pretty far in the hole! Don’t put people down. Remember this … When you belittle people, you are being little!
The Christian life is a life of kindness. The Bible tells us, “Jesus is the kindness of God.” You want to know what Jesus was really like? What was his personality really like? Jesus was kindness incarnate, kindness embodied, in the flesh. If you’re going to be like Jesus, you’ve got to learn to be kind. I don’t care how many Bible verses you know, if you’re not being kind to your wife, your kids, your mom – you’re missing the mark.